Benson County, North Dakota

Benson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,964. Its county seat is Minnewaukan. The county was created on March 9, 1883 by the Dakota Territory legislature, and was named for Bertil W. Benson, a Dakota Territory legislator at the time. The county government was organized on June 4, 1884, and its boundary lines were altered by two legislative actions in 1885.

White Horse Hill National Game Preserve and much of the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation are located within the county.

Geography
Much of the east boundary line of Benson County is delineated by the shore of Devils Lake, a closed-capture lake which would spill into the Sheyenne River in an overflow condition. The North Fork Sheyenne River flows southeasterly through the lower SW portion of the county.

The terrain of Benson County consists of rolling hills dotted with lakes, ponds and drainages. The terrain slopes to the east, and its highest point is on the lower portion of its west boundary line, at 1,624 ft ASL. The county has a total area of 1439 sqmi, of which 1389 sqmi is land and 51 sqmi (3.5%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * Towner County – north
 * Ramsey County – northeast
 * Nelson County – east
 * Eddy County – southeast
 * Wells County – southwest
 * Pierce County – west

Major highways

 * [[Image:US 2.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 2
 * [[Image:US 281.svg|25px]] U.S. Highway 281
 * [[Image:North Dakota 19.svg|20px]] North Dakota Highway 19
 * [[Image:North Dakota 20.svg|20px]] North Dakota Highway 20
 * [[Image:North Dakota 57.png|20px]] North Dakota Highway 57

Protected areas

 * Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge (part)
 * Grahams Island State Park (part)
 * Pleasant Lake National Wildlife Refuge
 * Silver Lake National Wildlife Refuge (part)
 * White Horse Hill National Game Preserve
 * Volk National Wildlife Refuge
 * Wood Lake National Wildlife Refuge
 * Wurgler National Wildlife Refuge

Lakes

 * Broken Bone Lake
 * Cranberry Lake
 * Free Peoples Lake
 * Horseshoe Lake
 * Lake Murie
 * Lake Yri
 * Long Lake
 * Sand Lake
 * Shin Bone Lake
 * Spring Lake
 * Stink Lake
 * Stony Lake
 * Wood Lake

2020 census
As of the census of 2020, there were 5,964 people.

2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 6,660 people, 2,233 households, and 1,628 families in the county. The population density was 4.8 PD/sqmi. There were 2,950 housing units at an average density of 2.1 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 55.0% American Indian, 43.4% white, 0.2% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 22.0% were Norwegian, 18.0% were German, 5.0% were Irish, and 0.6% were American.

Of the 2,233 households, 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were married couples living together, 20.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.1% were non-families, and 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.46. The median age was 31.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,479 and the median income for a family was $34,597. Males had a median income of $31,729 versus $25,253 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,545. About 26.1% of families and 35.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 48.3% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities
Cities and CDPs have population included as of 2020, and townships have the population as of 2020. The largest community by far is Fort Totten, followed by Leeds, Maddock and the county seat, Minnewaukan. There are nine cities in the county. The largest township by a 60% margin is Mission (935), which is on the south shore of Devils Lake and is popular for vacationing, as well as gambling at the Spirit Lake Casino and Resort. It is within the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation. It is followed by Wood Lake Township (471), immediately to the south of Mission Township and also included in the reservation. The third largest is Lallie Township (325), to the west of Fort Totten on the south shore of Devils Lake and within the reservation.

Cities

 * Brinsmade
 * Esmond
 * Knox
 * Leeds
 * Maddock
 * Minnewaukan (county seat)
 * Oberon
 * Warwick
 * York

Census-designated place

 * Fort Totten

Unincorporated communities

 * Baker
 * Fillmore
 * Flora
 * Harlow
 * Hesper
 * Isabel
 * Josephine
 * Lallie
 * Niles
 * Pleasant Lake
 * Saint Michael
 * Tokio

Townships

 * Albert
 * Arne
 * Aurora
 * Beaver
 * Broe
 * Butte Valley
 * East Fork
 * Eldon
 * Esmond
 * Hesper
 * Impark
 * Iowa
 * Irvine
 * Isabel
 * Knox
 * Lake Ibsen
 * Lallie
 * Leeds
 * Lohnes
 * McClellan
 * Minco
 * Mission
 * Normania
 * North Viking
 * Oberon
 * Pleasant Lake
 * Rich Valley
 * Riggin
 * Rock
 * South Viking
 * Twin Lake
 * Twin Tree
 * Warwick
 * West Antelope
 * West Bay
 * Wood Lake
 * York

Politics
Typical of many counties in the state where a significant share of the population is Native American, Benson County leans Democratic in presidential elections. Prior to 2020, no Republican candidate had won the majority of the county's votes since Ronald Reagan in 1984. However, George W. Bush in 2000 & Donald Trump in 2016 both won a plurality of the county's votes.

Education
School districts include:

K-12:


 * Dakota Prairie Public School District 1
 * Devils Lake Public School District 1
 * Fort Totten Public School District 30
 * Harvey Public School District 38
 * Leeds Public School District 6
 * Maddock Public School District 9
 * Minnewaukan Public School District 5
 * New Rockford-Sheyenne Public School District 2
 * North Star School District
 * Rugby Public School District 5
 * Warwick Public School District 29

Elementary districts:
 * Oberon Public School District 16